This Guy Turned A Vietnam Era Helicopter Into An Amphibious Car

And raced it 24 Hours of Lemons. Later, it went up in flames.

You have to be pretty hardcore committed to build something like this, especially when it involves 3,000 man hours. What was once a Vietnam era attack helicopter became, for a short time, an amphibious car that also “raced” at the 24 Hours of Lemons. Meet Jeff Block, aka Speedycop. He’s known for some pretty wild creations that have also taken part at the 24 Hours of Lemons, but this Helicopter is particularly interesting. Over the course of six months, Block and his team built the so-called “Speedycopter.”

And yes, it can drive on both dry land and water. Really, and it’s street legal. Or, rather it was. What happened? On its way to an event, its driver smelled some smoke and pulled over to the side of the highway. He saw a small flame and immediately grabbed the fire extinguisher. He pulled the pin and nothing happened.

All he could do was stand there and watch as fire engulfed the once sky only helicopter. Because the helicopter contained a lot of magnesium, which was common in US military hardware, the fire destroyed the $10,000 oddity in a matter of minutes. No one was hurt, but it was painful, nonetheless, to see something so unique that required so much hard work go up in flames. Fortunately, there’s even weirder car creations to be done.